University sets up tiger bucks for Ubers

At the beginning of last semester, the Tiger Card office finalized plans to connect the campus card with Uber. However, after Uber redesigned its app, the campus card connection was lost.

Luckily, this March the connection was reestablished, and Tiger Bucks can officially be used to pay for Uber. All students need to do is download the most recent version of the app, set up payment with a campus card, and find Trinity among the schools available.

“It’s set up to recognize your Tiger Card and Tiger Bucks. This program really started gelling last summer after it was brought to us by CBORD. We’re actually one of four schools in the country that they piloted it with,” said Paul Wright, director of business operations in the Tiger Card office.

CBORD, the campus’s operation software for Tiger Bucks, worked with Uber on the technological aspects of the initiative before proposing the idea to the Tiger Card office. The company used Trinity as an example when introducing the system at a conference with other schools.

“CBORD brought it to us because they’re the operating system for Tiger Bucks, and it was an opportunity for them to use another avenue to help pay for rides, which would be the campus card,” Wright said.

This option allows students who prefer not to carry a credit card to have an alternative. So far, the Tiger Card office has had no complaints about the connection with the app.

“Feedback has been positive. If you base it on usage, particularly last semester, and specifically September and October, it was used heavily, and for the most part, it’s been used fairly well so far this month,” Wright said.

Despite the interruption of the system last semester, Tiger Bucks will now always work with Uber, as long as a student has money on their card.

“It’s a continuous program, even in the summer. And it doesn’t have to be here. If you travel, you can use it. It goes with you wherever you go,” Wright said.

The connection between the Tiger Card and Uber is profitless; the office decided to do this to benefit the community and offer students options.

“It’s a service, and it’s a good option for students if they want to go somewhere and not use other forms of transportation. It’s technology-driven, so easily adaptable to the student; they know how to use it,” Wright said.

As for why CBORD chose Trinity to be one of the pilot schools, the Tiger Card office believes it is because of the community’s willingness to try new things.

“We started with CBORD in 2002, and we’ve always seemed to be on their beta list. There are a handful of schools that are willing to try these new things, and we get a lot of schools that don’t have the programs to come visit. I think we’ve sold a lot of their products that way,” said Oralia Carrillo, system administrator for the Tiger card office.

The app will also tell you how much money is left on your Tiger Card before you request a ride, so there’s no chance you won’t have enough to pay for it.

“I didn’t know that we could pay for Uber with our cards, but I’m sure it’s really useful. It’s annoying sometimes to have to log into the website to see my Tiger Bucks, and being able to use them with Uber is pretty great. You can use them just like you would for Chipotle,” said first-year Lamonte Brooks.

The Tiger Card office is always looking for suggestions for ways to expand their list of places that accept Tiger Bucks.

“We’re looking for suggestions for our restaurants. There was a point when we had 24 or 25, and now we’re down to 10. For some places, it’s not worth having the system because students aren’t going to their locations. We want to find places where students and young people will take advantage of it,” Carrillo said.

If you have any suggestions, the Tiger Card office can be reached at tcrd@trinity.edu or on their Facebook page.